A terminally ill mother-of-two has urged women to push for the right diagnosis after her cancer was only spotted once it had 'ripped through' her body and 'moth eaten' her bones.

Kayleigh Walker, 37, from Cardiff, suffered lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer—including disabling back and neck pain—before doctors performed the appropriate investigations.

As the former teacher was pregnant at the time, a total of 19 medics who examined her assumed her problems were a result of carrying the extra weight of a baby.

Despite her describing 'immense pain' that eventually left her needing a wheelchair to get around, doctors told her she was 'overestimating' her agony.

Now, a year after her daughter Rosie was born, Ms Walker is still plagued by the incurable illness and wrecked with anxiety waiting for further decline.

She is now aiming to raise awareness of red flag symptoms you should never ignore before she dies—and make her daughters, aged one and five, 'proud' in the process.

'I just felt unheard. I felt like I was just hidden behind my pregnancy,' she said of the agonising wait for an accurate diagnosis.

'As soon as people heard the word pregnant it was like "oh, there's nothing really we can do because you're pregnant."' 

'But, pregnant women aren't superheroes, they get ill like everyone else,' she told The Mirror. 'It doesn't mean you're untouchable.' 

The ordeal began at the beginning of last year, just before Ms Walker became pregnant with her second daughter, when she began suffering 'a little bit of neck pain'. 

Throughout her pregnancy, the pain got progressively worse, spreading to her back and her arms. 

She said: 'My back started to get really bad. I did flag it up to medical professionals and they kind of shrugged it off as there were lots of changes going on with my body.' 

'I couldn't lift bend or pick things off the floor, or lift up my daughter who was three at the time.

'I felt like I was just surviving day to day. Even minutes felt like hours,' she added.  

This progressed to excruciating back pain, muscle spasms and broken bones, leaving the terminally ill mother in a wheelchair. 

Yet, Ms Walker, who was unable to take painkillers strong enough to ease the pain due to pregnancy, was refused an MRI— doctors told her they were only for 'life or death situations'. 

At this point, the tumours were 'ripping through' her body.

'I had a hump at the bottom of my neck, something in my arm, a lump sticking out. All these things felt really alien to me,' she added. 

Then, at 30 weeks pregnant, Ms Walker found a lump in her right breast, a tell-tale sign of cancer. 

She was sent for an ultrasound and an MRI which revealed breast cancer. She also had a fractured arm and the vertebrae in her back had collapsed as a result of the disease spreading to her bones.

'My bones were moth eaten', she explained. 'I had the bones of an 80 year old and had fractured my arm by lifting a kettle to make a cup of tea'. 

'My heart just sank because I thought yeah, she knows what the matter is with me. It was just that silence where you know they can see something,' she said.

Ms Walker was then rushed in for an emergency C section last August, due to fears that she would become paralysed if she carried to term. 

Her 'miracle' daughter, Rosie, was born 10 weeks premature, at 3lb 1oz.

Rosie was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for around-the-clock care. 

But, just two days later, the new mum was taken in for an operation on her back, which involved having six rods and 12 screws inserted into her spine.

She said: 'As soon as I had that operation, I felt I was fixed. 

'I wasn't, because obviously I had this horrendous disease that was killing me, but I knew that that pain had gone.'

'After my diagnosis, the care from  my medical team was excellent, especially the care of my daughter in the NICU', she added. 

The mum-of-two now wants to do everything she can to make her daughters proud, so that her legacy will live on when she's gone.

She said: 'I hope if anything this will make experts take note of a pregnant woman's needs and encourage pregnant women to have a voice to advocate for themselves 

'I want [my daughters] to know I was a resilient mum, that I'm never going to give up even in the face of adversity. 

'You've got to pick yourself up. Life is difficult and I want them to be proud,' she added.  

Ms Walker took part in a fashion show this week to raise funds for Breast Cancer Now, a research and support charity which is on a mission to ensure that by 2050, everyone who is diagnosed with breast cancer lives. 

She said: I've got an amazing quality of life at the moment. I know one day that will change. It's Russian roulette having this disease. 

'But I was in a wheelchair and this is proving you can do good things if you just stay positive and keep hopeful. If I can walk every day to school with my little girl, that's a win', she added. 

Kayleigh is one of an estimated 61,000 women in the UK living with secondary breast cancer, according to Breast Cancer Now—a figure that's been rising year on year. 

Every month in the UK, around 1,000 people die from the disease—which is the equivalent of someone dying every 45 minutes. 

Survival rates for the cancer depend on what stage it is diagnosed, but, overall, three out of four women are alive a decade after their diagnosis, with survival rates having doubled in the last 50 years alone.

Most metastatic cancers—the term for a cancer that starts in one part of the body before spreading to other areas—like Ms Walker's are incurable. 

The symptoms depend on which part of the body the cancer has spread to. In Ms Walker's case, the cancer affected her bones, but it also commonly spreads to the liver, lungs and brain. 

Other symptoms include feeling tired or having no energy, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, feeling unwell with no clear cause, feeling or being sick, or difficulty sleeping. 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in the UK each year, accounting for 11,500 deaths. 

Whilst anyone can develop breast cancer, it is not always clear what causes it. People over the age of 50, who have dense breast tissue, have breast disease or have family members who have had breast or ovarian cancer, are at a higher risk of the disease.

People who have higher levels of oestrogen, progesterone or testosterone—which can be caused by starting your period at a young age—are also more likely to develop the disease.

To help catch cancer early, the NHS advises going for breast screening to help reduce the risk of the disease becoming fatal.

Making lifestyle changes such as cutting down on alcohol, losing weight if you're overweight or obese, and quitting smoking will all lower your chance of getting breast cancer. 

Women are encouraged to check their breasts regularly for potential sings of the cancer. 

These include a lump, or swelling in the breast, chest or armpit, a change in the skin of the breast, such as dimpling or redness and a change in size or shape of one or both breasts. 

Nipple discharge with blood, a change in the shape or appearance of the nipple and continuous pain in the breast or armpit are also signs of the deadly disease. 

While these are not always a cause for concern, anyone who experiences these symptoms is advised to consult their GP.